CriticalExtra

Absolutely astonishing quality of script, direction, production values and some astronomical central acting from Stanwyck, who chews up the sets and her scenes with such skill and professional gravitas that she seems to lamp out of the screen at you, leaving you transfixed, mesmerised and deeply impressed. This gem of a noir movie is groundbreaking, with a cut to the marrow script and the actors locking on to the central plot like they had lived it for real. This is the very best any movie can get - any genre. I defy anyone to compare it to any other noir movie ever made. Simply sublime perfection and definitely right up there in the top ten best movies ever made. Highly Recommended.

Flawless, deeply moving, beautifully envisaged, spectacular and for its time, a revelation of technique and acting bravura, this now ancient movie shines through the ages like a diamond in a dark mine. Vivienne Leigh, aided and abetted by a brilliant Hattie McDaniel, and despite garnering a lot of negative flack from her jealous contemporaneous peers, gives a stunning central performance; even acting Gable clean off the set, as she hijacks the movie with her amazing southern belle accent and her stellar acting ability - which garnered her a well earned Oscar and many other awards. Easily, this epic film deserves it's top spot at the greatest movies ever made list; it really is that good. And with some superb performances and solid direction and production values, it will remain one of those truly great cinematic masterpieces. Highly recommended.

Antonio Banderas is surprisingly amusing in this madcap, ludicrously stupid movie; so his performance is actually worth watching. There are some very funny/witty moments in this dangerously close to self-annihilation movie, although the direction needed to be much tighter and better use made of a capable cast that includes two beautiful stars showing even more promise, over and above this movie. The thin line between the humourous and the boring is not properly envisaged by the direction and script, which despite some witty material, is lost, too often, in a sea of mediocrity. Pace and shadow are compromised resulting in a clunky passage. Not a memorable movie, but with the extreme male beauty of the tall, dark and handsome - and charming - Ben Cura & and his rather miscast quarry, Olga Kurylenko, it is sometimes at least easy on the eye, despite its faultlines.

Toni Collette's astonishing, bravura award worthy central performance is profound and incisively visceral. However, the movie towards the second half seems to fragment into a randomly disarrayed descent into shock horror tropes. At times inexplicably surreal plot twists mingle with a seemingly updated array of pseudo-Hammer Horror vignettes and dislocated interjections of blood, guts and revolting gore. I would say go see this movie and witness Collette's towering performance that hijacks the movie and leaves all else floundering in her wake. Recommended.